Impact on personal growth and environment conservation self-perception in a volunteering program with adults with severe mental illness (SMI)

Introduction “Viaje del Parnaso” is a volunteering project developed at the Day Center Aranjuez2 (CD2) for helping adults with SMI to get a satisfactory and responsible occupation through their implication in a volunteering work in the community, while involved in the maintenance of a green area in the city of Aranjuez. Objectives/aims The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the project on the volunteers’ lives in terms of personal growth and environment conservation and compare its results with non-volunteers also attended at the CD2. Methods The project was carried once a week during 45 weeks. 11 volunteers participated on the project, plus 5 non-volunteers were considered as cuasi-control group. The instruments applied were an item on “environment conservation” and 2 subscale items of “Personal Growth” from the Ryff Scales of psychological well-being. Measures were applied at baseline, 6 and 12 months after. Results Significant differences were found on the environment conservation item between volunteers at baseline and 6 months after ( P < 0.05). Results also revealed a significant difference ( P < 0.05) between volunteers and non-volunteers at both variables (“environment conservation” and “Personal Growth”) in baseline and 6 months after treatment. Conclusions The data from this study suggest that a volunteering program seems to be an effective intervention for bringing about improvements in well-being of people with SMI, and also for increasing their environmental awareness. These improvements may also help to change the stigma of SMI reinforcing mental health patient's contributions to society. Disclosure of interest The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.